[I’ve had this beer before, but only at this one particular Italian restaurant in Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt: La Traviata. The pasta is hand made fresh daily, and the pizza’s are baked in wood-burning ovens. And, for as long as I’ve been in FfM, since 2008, they serve this beer on tap. I eat here only about twice a year, but not because I don’t like the beer/food; rather, I rarely have time to eat anything at a sit-down place. I usually grab a Döner or a pizza at a couple of stand-up places to save time between my lessons, if I have any.]
I’ve never seen this beer anywhere else, so I thought I’d review it, though I’ve heard they have it on tap at Fichte Kränzi in Sachsenhausen, a Apfelweinlokal (or Äppelwoi - Äpfelwein - Äppelwein - Appelwein - Eppelwei) or Applewine restaurant, but I didn’t see it when I was there because I go there only for the Apfelwein. Their website lists all the pubs/restaurants where it can be found in Germany.
Krug Bräu seems to be from a Kaff in a tiny town between Bamberg and Bayreuth: Waischenfeld, Ortsteil (village) Breitlesau in Franken. The Brewery-Inn also doubles as a dance hall that focuses on live rock bands.
Their website calls it a Dunkeles Lagerbier. 5% ABV, "a special lager beer, brewed with a particular/special mashing technique and different special malts. The recipe for success: the beer is brewed to a taste that not too sweet nor too bitter and tastes great to all guests from the North Sea to the south."
Color: dark amber, orange tints, signs of Melanoiden or Münchner malt.
Aroma: malty, sweet, typical German malty aroma for a Fränkisches beer.
Taste: malty sweet, slightly sour on the front of the tongue; bitter on the sides, slightly sweet - a definable Münchner malt addition, maybe some black malt, but overall, a huge typical Pilsen malt flavor, slightly dry finish of Pils yeast. I expected a little more sweetness after getting the aroma. Bitterness of hops comes through clear on 2nd 0.5L glass. It’s not very different from the Fürst Wallerstein’s Landsknecht-Bier.
A mix of Pils with a little sweet component of a Bayerisches Märzen. However, if you taste only from the front, you get too much sourness, so to enjoy this beer, put the glass on top of the front of tongue and wash it over the middle and back for the sweetness to register at all. That’s also when you’ll notice the hops. But why do I need to do this simply to enjoy this beer?
Ate with orecchiette noodles with salsiccia and turnip greens.

Tap @ Dauth Schneider 30/01/13. Pours an auburnish dark brown with a yellowish-brown, large-bubbled head. Aroma is light caramel, a lot of dark bread, slight German hops. Taste begins with a strong caramel, some herbal flavor as well. Light breadiness. The finish is a disappointment. It is watery and light and not much of an aftertaste. Light herbal and wooden notes. Palate is light, somewhat carbonated, a bit watery. A bottle I had a few days later (thanks Hart) was completely different. It was a bit older, but the aroma and flavor were strongly hazelnut. Scored the tap version.

Very dark amber, medium non tanned head, cloudy. Espresso aroma, slightly grassy. Tasted espreso, bourbon and malt. Medium carbonation, smooth, medium body. Not what I expected, from the label I thought I was buying a Helles lager, first sip was more like a Schwarzbier, it also had some Stout like characteristics, a pleasant surprise.

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